1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to finger tip mounted document handling aids.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many vocations, continuous handling of documents and other materials by hand is required. To enhance the gripping ability of fingers, finger cots or rubber fingertips have been used. Such devices typically consist of a conical device which slips over the end of a finger and has a closed outer end. This design has proved unacceptable in some applications because its closed outer end prevents an operator from "feeling" with the finger. In addition, this design is easily caught on document pages or "pigeonhole" edges and dislodged from the finger. The operator then loses time in replacing the finger cot which thereby reduces the operator's efficiency in performing his or her primary work tasks.
Improvements upon this basic design have been attempted. The patents listed below show various finger cot designs which have been developed for different tasks:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issued ______________________________________ 207,708 J. S. Boyer 9/3/1878 835,803 A. P. Witten 11/13/06 1,109,796 J. F. Sills 9/8/14 1,399,870 A. Pearce 12/13/21 1,484,489 M. A. Givens 2/19/24 1,980,635 W. R. Rasmussen et al. 11/13/34 2,358,440 E. F. Bowman 9/19/44 2,363,216 G. B. Wong 11/21/44 2,502,266 L. Mateo 3/28/50 3,343,177 A. C. Bellamy 9/26/67 ______________________________________
While some of the devices shown in these patents attempt to provide a finger cot which firmly engages the finger to prevent dislodgment, these designs have proved unsuitable.
Many finger cots or fingertips are composed of rubberized material which stretches to allow finger bending and also gripping of the finger by the device, but that alone has proved insufficient. U.S. Pat. No. 135,305, granted to Ackley, et al., on Jan. 28, 1873, shows a thumb-mounted "tobacco-topper" which has a single opening therein for accommodating the upper side of the knuckle of the wearer's thumb. When handling documents at high speeds in present day applications, however, such an opening to permit movement is simply not enough.